A: pours essentially black with a dark brown finger thick head. S: very smoky, chocolate and some coffee and roasted malt.T: smoky chocolate, very nice dark roasted malt profile. The chocolate is a more of the bitter variety than a sweeter due to the smokiness. M: could be a bit smoother and creamy, that said its not terrible. OK carbonation.O: this definitely the best local smoked beers I've had.

T - Taste is meatier, but with less overt roasted grain and smoke. Chocolate seems to come out more significantly in the taste. Mild roast and char bitterness in the finish.

M - Slightly overcarbonated, and a bit too thin and watery. Since I don't know the ABV it's hard to know what to make of all this, but it seems undersized for the flavor profile. Light residual stickiness and smoke - like I was eating bacon in a smoky diner.

D - It's one of the best beers I've had from Virginia. Other than the weak mouthfeel this is pretty enjoyable stuff. Hopefully they fix their carbonation issues down the road.

A: deep, shiny black with a rich coffee hued dense head. head retention isn't as great as i expected from the initial pour.

S: a woody, charcoal-like smokiness. the smoke profile dominates the nose. interesting smoke aroma. not a bacon/roast pig, but more of a burnt cedar/oak.

T: roast starts until a rich amount of smoke flavor takes over. this is definitely a smokey stout! similar smokey flavors as i described above. a cedar/wood oak flavor. pretty dry finish.

M: medium/full bodied. a little astringency from the roast. carbonation is on the medium/soft side. works well.

D: my only complaint is that it is hard for me to find the chocolate that is part of this brews name. im sure some, if not a significant, portion of chocolate malt was used, but the smoke is definitely the key player. me being a huge fan of smoked beers i find this very enjoyable.

Pours black with what might be the darkest brown head on any beer I can remember. Head is 1.5 fingers deep, and plenty thick. Nice lace.

Smells of smoked malt primarily, but with a judicious amount of really dark chocolate and a hint of licorice.

The smoke hits the palate first, then the chocolate takes over. Its a very dark chocolate sensation. Imagine eating a bar of 85% cocoa while checking the ribs in the smoker and drinking beer. That's what this reminds me of. The licorice is still there at the end, and has a nice refreshing quality.

Not an especially heavy feeling beer, which is good with as big as the flavors are. If it coated the mouth, it would get pretty tiring.

Overall, a pretty cool beer, and if the mood struck me, I'd split this bomber with someone. A bottle to yourself is a bit much.